The Be Free Campaign are a mental health charity “for young people, by young people.” Supporting primarily those aged 11-25, the Campaign provides counselling, resources, and training for both young people and their wider communities. Offering everything from teacher training to community support, to their own children’s books on understanding emotions, the Be Free Campaign’s focus on early interventions and awareness for mental health is making huge strides across Liverpool and the wider region.
At the start of 2024, the Medicash Foundation proudly donated £5,000 to the Campaign in order to support their life-changing work for young people and children in Liverpool. This funding was initially made available to support the charity in delivering 24 of their workshops to 100 young people across the region – however, the Be Free Campaign have so far delivered an incredible 36 workshops to over 360 young people in 2024. These workshops help children and young adults gain a better awareness of both their own mental wellbeing and how to better support their friends’ mental health, with well over half of all attendees already accessing mental health support since their workshop.
In addition, the Medicash Foundation’s support has allowed the Campaign to partner with new schools and organisations across Merseyside, hire new staff members to improve their service goals, extend their outreach into the Manchester area, and establish a brand-new Riots Response Hub to support those impacted by recent civil unrest.
“Having an empowered knowledge of mental health from a young age is fundamental to good wellbeing throughout our adult lives, and the Be Free Campaign’s work is changing the way we talk about mental health”, says Sue Weir, Medicash Foundation Trustee and Medicash Chief Executive. “We’re proud to play a part in supporting their projects and look forward to seeing how they develop.”
Dr Shantanu Kundu. Chief Executive of the Be Free Campaign, said: “We are incredibly grateful for the support that the Medicash Foundation has given us. We believe in prevention and early intervention. We know how important it is to focus on young people’s mental health before it gets worse. During a time when there are high levels of societal pressure, we need to be proactive and not reactive when it comes to prioritising youth mental health. Hopefully we can continue to provide this support to communities across the North West and beyond.”
If you’d like to find out more about the Be Free Campaign’s life-changing work, you can visit their website at befreecampaign.org